ojai news at The Ojai Post :: blog, newspaper, events in Ojai, California

That’s because you’re not going to get to vote on those initiatives.

In the discussion following last week’s latest city council blow-up, newsprint and hot air has been wasted on useless subjects like “affordable housing” and “chains.” It’s not that affordable housing and chains are unimportant, it’s that talking about them is a complete waste of time and good ink if we are not permitted to cast a vote.

The real point of the Furchtenicht issue has nothing to do with chain stores, affordable housing, or the “proper format” of initiatives. It’s about taking away your right to choose and the city’s embrace of intimidation as a tool to suppress grassroots democracy.

The party line is that attorney Jeff Furchtenicht’s proposed initiatives were “improperly formatted,” hence the need to litigate to obtain declaratory relief from the courts. The city council has re-bleated this message like some absurd Orwellian sheep. And the city’s cognoscenti are nodding in unison as if they actually knew what on Earth they were talking about. In his September 29th editorial, Bret Bradigan dismissed the tactic as though it were a natural process of life: “…The city is suing him, but as I see it, they are merely following the legal procedures for such an impasse — if the city and its citizens can’t agree, let a judge decide.”

Sure, no problemo Bret, just pony up $20K - $30K dollars in attorney fees and you too can argue constitutional law in front of a judge. Why everyone doesn’t spend their life savings fighting city hall is simply beyond my comprehension – particularly when there is absolutely nothing to be gained from it but affirmation of their fellow citizens’ right to make law.

The remarkable thing is that the reason your right to make law was eviscerated last week has nothing to do with the law. It has to do with intent. Here’s the problem: the city claimed Mr. Furchtenicht’s proposed initiatives were improperly formatted, so they had no choice but to litigate.

Yes, of course. The very first thing I do whenever I have a disagreement or misunderstanding with someone is to sue them. I would never dream of picking up the phone and trying to work it out – that would be far too sensible. No – I drop the atomic bomb every single time things aren’t going my way. California Elections Code section 9604 says that “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person may engage in good faith bargaining between competing interests to secure legislative approval of matters embraced in a state or local initiative or referendum measure…” Translation: it really is ok to pick up the phone and call Mr. Furchtenicht and make a good faith effort to resolve the situation in a constructive way without resorting to costly and destructive litigation.

Even crazier is the suggestion that this lawsuit is some kind of innocuous version – sort of like a huggable stingray. “I have not sued Furchtenicht for one dime,” city attorney Monte Widders is reported as saying in the September 29th issue of Ojai Valley News. Notwithstanding Mr. Widders’ claim, his lawsuit contains a sentence that states that Mr. Widders seeks judgment for “cost of suit incurred.” When asked about this apparent disconnect, Mr. Widders dismissed it as a standard “boilerplate” provision included in all complaints. I guess the “delete” key was stuck on his word processor.

Note to reader: There is no such thing as a warm and fuzzy lawsuit. Nor are lawsuits a natural process of life, as has been suggested. Lawsuits are horrible, expensive last resorts to be avoided at all cost. That is, they are to be avoided if your intentions really are honorable and you’re genuinely interested in constructive solutions instead of wanting to make a very public example out of a citizen in order to scare the bejeesus out of any other poor fool from monkeying with Ojai laws ever again. Message received and understood Monte.

The net result of all this is two fold: 1) you will not have an opportunity to cast a vote on Mr. Furchtenicht’s initiatives. That opportunity has been taken away from you; 2) it is a virtual dead certainty that no one in Ojai will ever propose an initiative in the foreseeable future. This is because most people fear lawsuits. They do not consider them a cuddly and natural aspect of life.

Now with a court date fast approaching, one person is going to bat for all of Ojai’s citizens. He is spending his precious time and money to preserve your rights. You may disapprove of what he says, but you’d better defend his right to say it.

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REBUTTAL: Mayor misses the point
by Todd Miller

In his thoughtful and considerate October 4th guest editorial, Mayor Bury attempted to explain the city council’s reasons for the city’s litigation against Jeff Furchtenicht regarding his proposed initiatives. Once again, the Mayor recited the city’s party lines regarding the assertion that the initiatives were improperly formatted in that they did not enact a statute.

Whether or not Mr. Furchtenicht’s proposed initiatives are improperly formatted is not the point. The central issue in this situation is the city’s willingness to use litigation as a first resort instead of a last resort. Despite council’s best efforts to soften the appearance of litigation as a legal “opinion,” “clarity,” or “declaratory relief,” the reality is that Mr. Furchtenicht is being sued by the city of Ojai, and it will cost him considerable money to prepare a defense. Constitutional law is not traffic court. Mr. Furchtenicht’s alternative is not to mount a defense, in which case he is exposed to the “cost of suit incurred” per the city attorney’s suit – a suit which was the city’s choice, not Mr. Furchtenicht’s.

California Elections Code section 9604 says that “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person may engage in good faith bargaining between competing interests to secure legislative approval of matters embraced in a state or local initiative or referendum measure…” Translation: it really is ok to pick up the phone and call Mr. Furchtenicht and make a good faith effort to resolve the situation in a constructive way without resorting to costly and destructive litigation – litigation which has the additional effect, whether intended or not, of chilling future grassroots democracy in Ojai.